Last week, Dog Tags class was held on the Walter Reed Army Medical Center campus. It was a packed house, as a Dog Tags graduate, one of Walter Reed’s occupational therapists, and a soldier who has been coming to the Dog Tags open enrollment classes joined the current students for the presentation. Due to the program’s popularity, the Behavior & Learning Center has recently begun offering Dog Tags classes for soldiers who can’t regularly attend the program, but still want to work with shelter dogs during their recovery at Walter Reed.
During the presentation on Walter Reed’s campus, the students were introduced to a more recently popularized type of training known as “clicker training”. Clicker training uses a tool called a clicker, which makes a very distinct popping sound, to mark desired behaviors while the dog is performing them. The clicker is a great way to tell a dog “Yes that’s it!” when they do something you want them to. While the clicker can help a dog learn much more quickly, it’s sometimes hard for trainers to get the hang of it. It takes some practice to get the timing down, while juggling the clicker, leash and treats. To practice their timing, the Dog Tags students played some games with the clickers. In one game, a tennis ball was thrown up in the air, and the students had to click the instant the ball hit the floor. It took a couple of tries, but eventually everyone started clicking in unison. In another game, the students took turns acting as the “dog” while the other students practiced clicking for certain behaviors.
Back at the Behavior & Learning Center, the students used the information they learned during the clicker training presentation while working with shelter dogs Sarah and Mercy. Using the clicker, they taught the dogs some basic skills such as sit, down and stay, but also got to work on some tricks. Sarah was great at “crawl”, and Mercy picked up “sit pretty” really quickly! Sarah has been at WHS’s Georgia Avenue shelter for nine months, and has received a lot of training as a regular in the Dog Tags program. These training opportunities have helped Sarah to gain confidence and constructively use up her boundless energy while in the high stress shelter environment. Sarah is still waiting to find a permanent home.
If you’d like to sponsor a shelter dog's training, please e-mail askthetrainer@washhumane.org
If you are interested in adopting Sarah or Mercy please visit our adoption pages at www.washhumane.org
Please enjoy this brief video of staff clicker training with shelter dogs
Comments